Can we not disagree without personal attacks coming into play?

Question

we all have our opinions as they say 'if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything' but why is it when people try share their opinion many resort to name calling and bashing rather than talking and listening....just because someone thinks they are right and have all the answers doesn't mean they are....truth sometimes is relative

oh no i seemed to have reached my limit for answering and asking....oh well there's always tomorrow.....goodnight

tom collins - why is saying is sounds like 13 yr old boys discussing sex name calling, its pointing our immaturity its not a disparaging remark on a person.....there is a difference....really, when did you turn 13?

Answer 1

Thats just the way it is. When you can't use facts/knowledge to back up your side of the argument (as many can't), naturally you will resort to personal attacks.

Answer 2

Seems to be a cultural thing around here. People make decisions about another person's beliefs based on that individual's personality, not on the beliefs themselves.

This is why the pundits for both sides are so successful. They don't have to attack each other's ideologies at all. All they have to do is attack the people who believe in those ideologies, usually for reasons that have nothing to do with the ideologies. Fans of the pundits almost always associate a single person's failings with the ideology as a whole, and the pundit wins control of their minds as a result.

Here's an analogous line of reasoning:

"Einstein was an adulterer. He had, by his own account, at least 10 mistresses. When his first wife left him for this and other reasons, he married his first cousin - who counseled him in letters about troubles with his mistresses."

"Therefore, the Special and General Theories of Relativity, as well as the Photoelectric Effect, must be wrong."

It seems ridiculous on the face of it. Why should Relativity and the Photoelectric effect be wrong just because Einstein was an adulterer? The Photoelectric Effect, which he discovered and documented, is in use as I type this. The General Theory of Relativity has been successfully tested during solar eclipses, when the light of stars close to the limb of the sun was observed to bend as it passed by the sun. The Special Theory of Relativity is continuously being verified in subatomic experiments, where the effects of time and length dilation and mass increases in objects traveling close to the speed of light have been observed.

None of that matters. Because Einstein was such a reprehensible man, his theories must be wrong.

The same type of reasoning is applied to conservative and liberal idealogies, as well as any opposing points of view. If a liberal or conservative does something immoral, then the associated idealogy is declared immoral. Intolerant hatred is added to the announcement of the immoral act, and the pundit's job is done - another million or two of his/her faithful sheep think as they're told to think, even though the logic is flawed as described above.

Oiks! That's enough for now.

Answer 3

Truth is always relative. I mean, all a 'truth' entails is enough people believing the same thing. If I were to say the sky is red, you would obviously say, "no, it is blue." But if I get enough people to agree with me, the 'truth' will be that the sky is indeed red.

But back to your original question. You have to realize that more people here on yahoo answers aren't of the most mature and open minded. Naturally, those people resort to attacking those who do not believe like them.

And what's worse is you can't do anything to change those peoples' minds. So just ignore them and seek out those who are open minded enough to truely apperciate a deep and involving question.

Answer 4

WELL, Lola, a lot of people simply seem to be JUST PLAIN ignorant -which means lacking knowledge. Therefore, because they lack knowledge and do not know how to find it, they are not open to other opinions. They are probably close minded and believe anything that they hear as well. Most personal attacks come from a lack of TRUE knowledge on a subject. They have to get personal to "change the subject" so to speak...Some people feel that they have something to prove or maybe they just had a bad childhood. I think it is a defense mechanism. :)

Answer 5

some people do not have social skills to behave kindly when debating a subject or idea, that is their way to strike out instead of debating their side, and it is a shame they do that, there is nothing to do about it except consider the source and laugh it off. i believe common sense and kindness will win over the unskilled in social skills, [try to ignore them] and you will find better debaters soon, [ i hope] just look at some of the real stupid questions some ask on this forum and they have no idea how to check spelling even when there is a link to do so,
ain't that a kick??they need to learn how to behave in public forums like this one

Answer 6

Those people cant or dont know how to back up their facts. Support your reason folks...lol... I cant stand watching the news on anything. Two people griping over something then 1 person always doesnt give reasoning into why. Just babble.

Answer 7

I know what you mean..,just received a nice hate mail for an answer that I gave a Jew hater.Will report him if it keeps up.No sense in that..,people are allowed to disagree and have the freedom to do so with out the hate.People are miserable and are happy hating and name calling..,the sad part..,they will die lonely.

Answer 8

You called people on this site 13 year old boys (name calling) and now you're accusing others of name calling and bashing.

Wow.

Answer 9

childhood training and upbringing to be passive or aggressive or neutral. most folks were taught to 'hit below the belt' in a confrontation.

Answer 10

Just the way it goes...bugs the hell out of me as well, but many people are like that...